Professional Outlaw
by Lorryl
Summary: Living with danger was what Duo did best. It made him one of the best horse-thieves around. As Sheriff, Heero's life revolved around the law - until he's drawn into danger... of having more than just his horse stolen by certain thief. (AU. Shonen ai. 1x2)


This was inspired by that picture of the guys all dressed up in western gear (picture can be found at http://home.ust.hk/~ch_lwk/Gundams/gwcowboys.jpg ) The ideas came and then my muses  
  
forced me to write it at the threat of witholding chocolate... So, here you go. I'm so, so sorry..   
  
Title: Professional Outlaw   
  
Author: Lorryl   
  
Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be. If they were, things would have gone a LOT different in the series.   
  
Warnings: Um, I'll throw a PG rating on this. Might change in later chapters. This is AU, and there will be shonen ai in later chapters. Oh, yes. This is un-beta'd. You have been forewarned.   
  
The large, full moon bathed the landscape below in an ethereal light, the individual blades of grass shining silver as the night's dew captured and reflected the moonlight. A dark shadow, starkly in contrast to his surroundings, slipped silently through the grass. He moved carefully as not to disturb the land around him, occasionally stopping right the bent stalks of grass.   
  
The obstacle that he reached wasn't really an obstacle at all. It was simple as fences went, a sturdy post and rail affair. It would deter most livestock from exiting the enclosure, but anyone with intent to enter the enclosure merely had to brave the wire strung over the top rail, or slip between the rails.   
  
The figure had chosen the latter method, bending down and working his slim body through the narrow gap between the rails. The thick rope of hair that hung down his back snagged on an uneven board and his curse cut through the clear night air. He silenced himself and worked his hair free before getting to his feet and looking around the pasture.   
  
Several of the horses raised their heads to look at him while others merely ignored him, counting on the safety of the herd to alert any possible threat.   
  
Shaking his head, the boy walked further into the pasture. "Is it too much to ask for a proper hello?" he asked the nearest horse, a white mare. She replied with a snort and turned her haunches toward him in reply. He gave her a quiet laugh and moved on, inspecting the horses until he found his target.   
  
Her name was Shinimegami. She was solid black and solid muscle. There wasn't a single white hair on her body, by birth or by scar. A long, thick mane danced upon her sleek neck as she shook her head and stuck her nose out to investigate the hand the boy offered toward her. What had been empty before now held a slice of apple, which she chewed thoughtfully as his skilled hands fashioned a makeshift bridle out of the rope slung over his shoulder and slipped it onto her.   
  
  
  
"Shall we, m'lady?" he asked, holding the reins as he placed his hands on her back.   
  
A short hop and a wriggle later, his strong arms had pulled him onto the horse's back. Collecting the reins in one hand, he nudged his heels into her side. She broke into a trot, then a lope as he urged her to go faster.   
  
The fence would deter most livestock from exiting the enclosure. But most livestock didn't have Duo on their back. He threaded his fingers into the mare's mane and leaned low over her neck as she collected herself and leapt over the fence. His hat, despite having been firmly jammed over his hair, came loose and would have been lost to the night if not for the cord around his neck. Instead, it thumped lightly against his back as he moved with the easy, rocking gate of the horse beneath him.   
  
He rode for a while before he allowed Shini to slow, then stop altogether. Turning her, he glanced back toward the direction in which he came. A smug grin crossed his face as he imagined the scene that would the Winner ranch come morning, when they awoke to find yet another one of their prize horses missing.   
  
The mare beneath him whinnied, her ears carefully pointed toward her former home. If a response came on the wind, Duo couldn't hear it.   
  
"C'mon Shini" he told her, urging her into motion again. "You'll have company when we get home. It'll be a big old horsey family reunion."   
  
With Duo whistling a jaunty tune, the two rode deeper into the night, the full moon lighting their way.   
  
***   
  
The next morning at the Winner ranch was much like how Duo had imagined it. When the ranch hands discovered yet another one of the horses gone, all hell broke lose. Men immediately mounted up to form a search party while Rashid went to break the news to their boss.   
  
"Maybe she got loose and ran away," Quatre Winner said with a hopeful glance at his ranch foreman from where he sat behind his large mahogany desk.   
  
"The men are looking into it," Rashid said, standing squarely in front of the desk. "The fences are still secure though, so that does appear unlikely."   
  
Quatre sighed and rubbed his temples at the oncoming headache he could feel. It was only shortly after sunrise and he knew that his day would only get progressively worse as the searches turned up no sign of the mare, and no trace of where she might have gone. They never did. He was losing breeding stock at an unprecedented rate, and there was seemingly nothing he  
  
could do to stop it. Even the sentries he had posted after the first few loses, neither saw nor heard a thing.   
  
"Are you positive there was no problem with the fences?" he asked   
  
"I'm pos-" Rashid began, when a soft voice cut him off.   
  
"There is a problem with the fences."   
  
Rashid turned to the younger man who stood in the door. "That's impossible. My men went over every section of fencing. It's all perfectly intact." the older man's tone was defensive.   
  
The boy shrugged as he walked into the office. "I never said they were broken. I said there's a problem with them." He nodded a greeting to Quatre before settling himself in one of the chairs.   
  
"Good morning, Trowa" Quatre said, his upbringing forcing him to remain courteous when above all else he wanted to know what Trowa had found. Trowa would reveal what he knew in due time.   
  
The boy, whom Quatre believed was not much older than himself but could never be quite sure since Trowa had never divulged that information to him, had been working for Quatre for several months. He had shown up on the ranch one day, a drifter offering his services in exchange for a meal and a room for the night. Quatre had eagerly taken him in, and that night had turned into two, which turned into weeks, then months. Trowa's calm demeanor made him a natural to break and train horses, and Quatre was grateful to have him.   
  
Trowa nodded again, resting one dirty boot loosely on his knee as he leaned back in the chair. Ignoring the look Rashid gave him, he reached into his pocket and drew out several long chestnut hairs. He handed them to Rashid, who examined them before handing them to Quatre.   
  
Quatre looked at them, before raising his gaze to meet Trowa's. "They're not black, so they aren't Shini's. And they seem too fine to be tail hairs."   
  
"They're not," Trowa said. "They're human. I found them caught in a splintered rail in the north fence."   
  
Realization dawned in Quatre's eyes as the blonde came to the conclusion that the rest of the ranch had came to a while before. Quatre had far too much faith in people, and had refused to believe it was a horse thief. But now, faced with the evidence, he couldn't ignore it any longer.   
  
"Rashid," he said. "Ride into town and get the sheriff, will you?"   
  
Rashid nodded. "Of course," Turning on his heel, he walked out the office, leaving Trowa and Quatre alone.   
  
  
  
Quatre laid the hairs on his desk. Despite the fact several were broken, he couldn't help  
  
but be curious of the length.   
  
"Do you think it could be a woman?" Quatre asked Trowa, who was watching him.   
  
Trowa was quiet for a moment. "They hang horse thieves," he said finally.   
  
Quatre felt the pressure in his head increase steadily at Trowa's words. It was going to be a long day.   
  
---------------------------------------------------------   
  
Dun dun dun...Wait..It wasn't a cliffhanger ending.. *shrugs* Oh well. More to come. 


End file.
